Astroblog

Obscured by Clouds. The rough and ready blog of a cloud benighted biologist and amateur astronomer. Astroblog will cover my interests in astronomy, biology and Life, the Universe and Everything.

Friday, July 31, 2015

Aurora Watch (31 July-1 August) and Blue Moon

An Aurora watch and a geomagnetic alert has been issued by the Australian IPS
for 31 July to 1 August due to a coronal hole solar wind stream. This could
translate into aurora at any time during the night time of the 17th to early
morning 18th. Aurora, if they flare up, are likely to be seen only in Tasmania
(possibly Victoria).

Aurora can occur at any time after nightfall
(although around midnight or just after seems to be common). Dark sky sites have
the best chance of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your
eyes to become dark adapted.As always look to the south for shifting
red/green glows, beams have been reported consistently over the last few aurora
and a large green "blob" has been seen.

Unfortunately, the light from
the Full "Blue Moon" of 31 July will make seeing aurora hard.

SUBJ: IPS AURORA WATCHISSUED AT 0139 UT ON 30
Jul 2015 BY IPS RADIO AND SPACE SERVICESFROM THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE FORECAST
CENTRE

A high speed solar wind stream from a coronal hole is expected
toimpact the Earth from 31 July. There is some possibility of
seeingauroras on high latitudes on 31 July and 1 August during local
nighttime hours. Aurora alerts will follow should favourable space
weatheractivity eventuate.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Comet C/2014 Q1 from Australia (30 July - 6 August 2015)

The evening sky at 700 pm ACST looking west as seen
from Adelaide from 30 July to 6 August. The circles
show successive positions of Comet C/2014 Q1 PanSTARRS every two days. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at
equivalent local times. (click on image to embiggen).

Comet C/2014 Q1 PanSTARRS is climbing higher in the sky, and is now visible after Astronomical twilight.

Unfortunately it is fading (current estimates are around magnitude 7) and the Moonlight is increasing as the Moon heads towards a blue Moon on the 31st. After this the sky will be darker, but the comet will only be accessible in telescopes.

Printable black and white map suitable for use with binoculars, the
circle is the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. The time is 19:00 ACST,
similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere in
Australia. Click to embiggen and print.

If you try looking an hour and a half after sunset you will see it low above
the horizon. After last weeks effort the skies have been covered in cloud, so I have no sightings to report.

The comet is only visible in high power binoculars or a telescope, it is currently
around magnitude 7 as a fuzzy ball of light (with a short tail in small telescopes).

On the 30th sweeping right of Lambda hydra (one of the three bright stars in Hydra, just below the distinctive contellation of Crater the cup) by about two
binocular fields should bring you to the comet (there are no other bright
fuzzy blobs about).

Animation of Comet C/2014 Q1 PanSTARRS at 7:00 pm from 30 July to 6 August. Click to embiggen

As the week progresses, the comet continues to climb higher in the sky but remains near Hydra.

On the 6th the comet is within a binocular field of nu Hydra and alpha Crater (right and below) will bring you to the comet. At this time it should be around magnitude 10.

Pluto Surface Texture for Celestia

Pluto simulated in Celestia with the Pluto Global Map used to generate the Pluto texture. Click to embiggen

The Pluto Global Map has just been released, so I resized it (1024x512) and conveyed it to a 71 DPI png to use as a texture for Celestia.

You need to copy the texture file pluto_surface1.png to the textures/medres folder in the Celestia directory, then edit the solarsys.ssc file in the data folder (make a backup copy first) to replace the texture name in the Pluto definition section with that of the new texture, save it and you are good to go.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

The Sky This Week - Thursday July 30 to Thursday August 6

The Full Moon is Friday July 31. This is a Blue Moon. Venus
is brilliant low in
the twilight evening sky with bright Jupiter below it. Comet C/2014 Q1
PanSTARRS is visible in binoculars above Venus. Mercury Joins Venus and Jupiter late in the week. Saturn is in
the
head of the Scorpion and is easily visible in the evening.

The Full Moon is Friday July 31. This is a Blue Moon, the second full Moon in a month (the previous was July 2). The Moon is at perigee (closest to Earth) on August 2.

Early
evening sky on Wednesday August 5 looking north-west as seen from
Adelaide
at 18:15 ACST showing Venus, the star Regulus, Jupiter and Mercury forming a
triangle. Comet C/2012 Q1 PanSTARRS is visible in binoculars above. The
inset shows the telescope view of Venus and Jupiter at this time.

Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

Mercury climbs from the twilight into the evening sky, heading for Jupiter. Early next week the pair and Regulus will be less than a finger-width apart. However, you will need a fairly level, unobstructed horizon to see them.

Mars
is lost in the twilight but will return to the morning skies in the coming weeks.

Venus
is becoming harder to see above the western horizon in the twilight as it rapidly falls towards the horizon. At
nautical
twilight, an hour after sunset, it is around a hand-spans
above the horizon, although still visible at civil twilight, half an hour after sunset. Venus is
a distinct thin crescent shape in small telescopes and even strong binoculars.

Venus and the bright star Regulus are drawing apart, with Jupiter below making a
triangle in the sky. At the end of the week they are joined by Mercury.

The evening sky at 7:00 pm ACST looking west as seen
from Adelaide from 30 July to 6 August. The circles
show successive positions of Comet C/2014 Q1 PanSTARRS every two days. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at
equivalent local times. (click on image to embiggen).

If you try looking an hour and a half after sunset you will see it low above
the horizon. It is only visible in good binoculars or a telescope. It is now around magnitude 7 and looks like a faint fuzzy ball of light in binoculars. At the
beginning of the week sweeping up from Venus by about three
binocular fields should bring you to the comet (there are no other fuzzy blobs about).

As the week progresses, the comet rides higher in the sky so you will
need to sweep further up from Venus (see diagram above), but the comet also dims
and increasing Moonlight will make it harder to find.

Jupiter
is also becoming harder to see in the early evening twilight sky below Venus in the
north-western sky. It is also near the bright
star Regulus in Leo. Jupiter and Venus move further apart as the week goes on while Jupiter moves closer to Regulus.

Jupiter is no longer high
enough for telescopic observation once twilight is over.
Jupiter's Moons are still putting on a good
display in binoculars.

Evening sky on Saturday August 1 looking at the zenith while facing west as seen from
Adelaide
at 22:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible high above the western horizon near the zenith near the
head of the Scorpion. The
inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

Saturn
is now easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far
from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive
constellation of the Scorpion curled across the zenith, with bright
Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.

While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best
for
telescope observation from around 20:00 into the early morning hours. At
20:00 it is at it's highest above the northern horizon near the zenith
(with Saturn facing west). By 22:00 Saturn is high above the western
horizon. This is also a
good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the
clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with Jupiter, Venus and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Monday, July 27, 2015

The ISS and Venus and Jupiter (July 27-29, 2015)

The ISS passes between Venus and Jupiter, as seen from Melbourne on the evening of Wednesday July 29
at 18:17 AEST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

The ISS passes above Venus and Jupiter, as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Tuesday July 28
at 18:39 ACST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

The ISS passes passes above Venus and Jupiter, as seen from Sydney on the evening of Monday July 27
at 18:29 AEST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Wednesday July 29 for Melbourne.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Tuesday July 28 for Adelaide.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Monday July 27 for Sydney.

Starting tomorrow night until the 29th there are a series of evening passes of the
International Space Station that take them close to the paring of Jupiter an Venus, or even between them.

When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use either Heavens Above or CalSky
to get site specific predictions for your location (I'm using
Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney as examples, for example, the view from
Melbourne is radically different from that of Adelaide and Sydney on the
night of the 29th). Even the difference between the city centre and the
suburbs can mean the difference between seeing the ISS go through Venus and Jupiter or just above it.

Start looking several minutes before the pass is going to start to get
yourself oriented and your eyes dark adapted. Be patient, on the night
there may be slight differences in the time of the ISS appearing due to
orbit changes not picked up by the predictions. The ISS will be moving
reasonably fast when it passes near Venus and Jupiter, so be alert.

Kepler 452b is earth-like, and in a habitable zone, but that doesn't meant that it is Earth's twin. Similarly, not being Earth's twin does not make it disappointing.

Kepler-452b is in the habitable zone of it's star, with a radius 1.6 times that of Earth (technically making it a super Earth). While there is a lot of to-do about habitable zones,
it simply means the zone where liquid water can exists on a planets
surface. Other factors may be involved in habitability too. Mars is in
our habitable zone, but was too small to hold on to a substantial
atmosphere, and is now a freezing desert.

As of this discovery there are 13 earth-like worlds orbiting stars in their habitable zomes, and Kepler-186f is one that is closer in size to Earth than Kepler 452b. However, all but Kepler-452b orbit smaller, cooler stars and most are tidally locked to their sun (Kepler-186f orbits roughly where Mercury would be in our solar system, but because its sun is a cool red dwarf, it is not baking hot).

Kepler-452b orbits a sun-like G2 star, and has a year of 385 days, failry similar to our 365 days (all the others are much shorter, as they are closer in).

We don't know if Kepler-452b is a rocky world like our own, or a water world, however, it is the first time we have found an earth-like world around a sun that is the near twin of our own. Technically, it is quite difficult for find these kinds of planets (finding planets that have short years around dim cool stars is much easier) and gives us hope that we can find more of them in the near future.

Once again I've made Celestia files for the system. One for the star (which isn't in the default files) and one for the planet.

As
usual, copy the data here to plain text files (Kepler452.stc and Kepler452b.ssc), copy both of the files to the Celestia extras folder.
The star is around 1400 lightyears away in Cygnus, so in the Celestia
star browser, you will have to show around 500 stars to see Kepler-452
in the list. You can find the paper from which I took the data here.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

New Ceres and Vesta textures for Celestia

Ceres simulated in Celestia with a surface map taken from the Dawn spacecraft (click to embiggen)

Vesta simulated in Celestia with a surface map taken from the Dawn spacecraft (click to embiggen)

Celestia is an amazing 3Dspace simulation program. It is expandable, you can add comets, asteroids, exoplanets and more (see some examples here). I use a simulation of the STEREO spacecraft to helpd identify comets in the STEREO images.

Celestia also has a wonderful online community building a variety of different worlds. They have taken the latest surface maps from the Dawn orbiter of Ceres and Vesta and made them into textures for the respective asteroids simulated in Celestia. The Vesta and Ceres packs are here (scroll down the lists of asteroids till you come to them).

There are actually quite comprehensive and use advanced techniques. Being simple minded I just copied the texture files into the /texture/medres folder, then edited the asteroids.ssc file (after making a backup first).

Aurora Happening NOW (23 July 2015)

Aurora are Happening NOW. Unaided eye Aurora and beams have been reported in
Tasmania, from a wide variety of locations.

An Aurora Alert and a
geomagnetic alert has been issued by the Australian IPS for the 23th due to an
anticipated impact from a coronal mass ejection. Currently, the Kindex is
4.

Dark sky sites have the best chance of seeing anything, and always
allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become dark adapted.As always look
to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams have been reported consistently
over the last few aurora and a large green "blob" has been seen.

A sustained period of southward IMF is
resulting in mildly elevated levels of geomagnetic activity, particularly at
high latitude regions. Further mildly elevated levels of geomagnetic
activity are possible during the remainder of 23 July.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Seeing Comet C/2014 Q1 from Australia (23-30 July 2015)

The evening sky at 6:30 pm ACST looking west as seen
from Adelaide from 22 July to 30 July. The circles
show successive positions of Comet C/2014 Q1 PanSTARRS every two days. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at
equivalent local times. (click on image to embiggen).

Printable black and white map suitable for use with binoculars, the circle is the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. The time is 18:45 ACST, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere in Australia. Click to embiggen and print.

If you try looking an hour after sunset you will see it very low above
the horizon. I was only able to make it out at 18:40 ACST (an hour and a 10 minutes after sunset) as a faint blob in binoculars (then I had to come inside for dinner).

However, I had very poor conditions (high humidity, lots of horizon interference and street light interference. My attempt at photography was foiled by low elevation and light interference.

The comet is only visible in binoculars or a telescope, it is currently around magnitude 5.6. However,
it looks quite good as a fuzzy ball of light in binoculars under dark skies. Less good under suburban skies but still obsevable as a comet.

On the 23rd and 24th sweeping west of Venus and Jupiter by about a
binocular field should bring you to the comet (there are no other bright
fuzzy blobs about).

Animation of Comet C/2014 Q1 PanSTARRS at 6:30 pm from 22 July to 30 July. Click to embiggen

As the week progresses, the comet rides higher in the darker parts of the sky so you will
need to sweep up from Venus (see diagram above), on the 26th and 27th the comet is close to the relative bright star alpha Sextans, mking it easier to spot in binoculars.

However, while the comet moves out the the twilight (theoretically making it easier to see) it also dims. As well increasing Moonlight from the waxing will make it harder to find.

However, the comet is dimming more slowly than expected, so it should remain a good binocular object for those with a clear level horizon for a while.

The Sky This Week - Thursday July 23 to Thursday July 30

The First Quarter Moon is Friday July 24. Venus
is brilliant in
the twilight evening sky with bright Jupiter below it. Comet C/2014 Q1 PanSTARRS is visible in binoculars near them. Saturn is in
the
head of the Scorpion and is easily visible in the evening. The Moon is close to Saturn on the 26th

The First Quarter Moon is Friday July 24.

Early evening sky on Saturday July 25 looking north-west as seen from
Adelaide
at 18:30 ACST showing Venus,the star Regulus and Jupiter forming a triangle. Comet C/2012 Q1 PanSTARRS is visible in binoculars nearby. The inset shows the binocular view of the two at this time.

Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).Mercury is lost in the twilight.

Venus
is still easy to see above the western horizon in the twilight. At nautical
twilight, an hour after sunset, it is around three hand-spans
above the horizon, and still visible at astronomical twilight. Venus is a distinct thin crescent shape in even small telescopes.

Venus and the bright star Regulus are close, with Jupiter below making a
triangle in the sky.

The evening sky at 6:30 pm ACST looking west as seen
from Adelaide from 22 July to 30 July. The circles
show successive positions of Comet C/2014 Q1 PanSTARRS every two days. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at
equivalent local times. (click on image to embiggen).

Comet C/2014 Q1 PanSTARRS is now visible in the evening low in the twilight. It is sporting a nice double tail http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150721.html.
If you try looking an hour after sunset you will see it very low above
the horizon. It is only visible in binoculars or a telescope, however, it looks quite good as a fuzzy ball of light in binoculars. At the beginning of the week sweeping west of Venus and Jupiter by about a binocular field should bring you to the comet (there are no other bright fuzzy blobs about).

As the week progresses, the comet rides higher in the sky so you will need to sweep up from Venus (see diagram above), but the comet also dims and increasing Moonlight will make it harder to find.

Jupiter
is easily seen in the early evening sky below Venus in the
north-western sky. It is also near the bright
star Regulus in Leo. Jupiter and Venus move further apart as the week goes on while Jupiter moves closer to Regulus.

Jupiter is
visible in the early evening, setting just before 7:30 pm. It is high
enough for telescopic observation once twilight is over, and there is a
very narrow window of about an hour before it is too close to the horizon for
telescopic viewing.
Jupiter's Moons will be putting on a good
display in both binoculars and small telescopes.

Evening sky on Sunday July 26 looking at the zenith while facing west as seen from
Adelaide
at 22:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible high above the western horizon near the zenith near the
head of the Scorpion. The
inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

Saturn
is now easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far
from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive
constellation of the Scorpion curled across the zenith, with bright
Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.

While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best
for
telescope observation from around 20:00 into the early morning hours. At
20:00 it is at it's highest above the northern horizon near the zenith (with Saturn facing west). By 22:00 Saturn is high above the western horizon. This is also a
good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the
clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with Jupiter, Venus and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Comet C/2014 Q1 PanSTARRS visible in the Evening Twilight

Comet C/2014 Q1 PanSTARRS is visible in binoculars and telescopes low in the evening twilight. It is currently below and to the left of Jupiter. Tommorow night, on the 18th, it is to the left of and close to the crescent Moon, which will be a good sign post to comet. Start looking from around half an hour after sunset.

The Sun is nearby, so only experienced observers should attempt this observation, making sure the Sun is obscured behind something big. Be VERYcareful not to accidently view the Su though you telescope of binoculars, sever eye damage or blindness may result. Venus will be the brightest object near the Moon, but will only be visible in binoculars or a small telescope. Start watching about half an hour before hand to get set up and familiar with the sky.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

The Sky This Week - Thursday July 16 to Thursday July 23

The New Moon is Thursday July 16. Venus
is brilliant in
the twilight evening sky with bright Jupiter below it. On the 18th and 19th the crescent Moon is close to the pair. On the 19th a daytime occultation of Venus is seen in north-eastern Australia. Saturn is in the
head of the Scorpion and is easily visible in the evening. Mercury is
lost to view. The crescent Moon is close to the red star Aldebaran on
the 13th.

Early evening sky on Saturday July 18 looking north-west as seen from
Adelaide
at 18:30 ACST showing the Moon, Venus and Jupiter close together. The inset shows the binocular view of the two at this time.

Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

Venus
is easy to see above the western horizon in the twilight. At nautical
twilight, an hour after sunset, it is around four hand-spans
above the horizon, and still visible at astronomical twilight. Venus is a distinct crescent shape in even small telescopes.

Venus and the bright star Regulus are close, with Jupiter below making a shallow triangle in the sky. on the 18th and 19t the crescent Moon joins the trio.

The Moon at 9:52 am AEST in Brisbane on Sunday June 19 just as Venus appears from behind the Moon. Similar views will be seen at equivalent
times elsewhere in north-eastern Australia.

On the 19th in daylight, Venus is occulted by the Moon as seen from north-eastern Australia. From Alice Spings Venus emerges from behind the Moon at 9:19 am ACST. This is very close to the horizon.

The Sun is nearby, so
only experienced observers should attempt this observation, making sure
the Sun is obscured behind something big. Be VERY careful not to
accidently view the Su though you telescope of binoculars, sever eye
damage or blindness may result. Venus will be the brightest object near
the Moon, but will only be visible in binoculars or a small telescope.
Start watching about half an hour before hand to get set up and familiar
with the sky.

Jupiter
is easily seen in the early evening sky near Venus in the
north-western sky. It is also near the bright
star Regulus in
the sickle of Leo (this forms the head of the constellation of the
Lion). Jupiter and Venus are close
at the start of the week, and move further apart as the week goes on.
(see Venus description above).

Jupiter is
visible in the early evening, setting just before 8:00 pm. It is high
enough for telescopic observation once twilight is over, and there is a
narrow window of about 2 hours before it is too close to the horizon for
telescopic viewing.
Jupiter's Moons will be putting on a good
display in both binoculars and small telescopes.

Evening sky on Saturday July 18 looking at the zenith while facing west as seen from
Adelaide
at 22:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible high above the western horizon near the zenith near the
head of the Scorpion. The
inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

Saturn
is now easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far
from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive
constellation of the Scorpion curled across the zenith, with bright
Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.

While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best
for
telescope observation from around 20:00 into the early morning hours. At
22:00 it is at it's highest above the northern horizon near the zenith (with Saturn facing west). This is also a
good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the
clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with Jupiter, Venus and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

22 Hours to Pluto

In a mere 22 hours 26 minutes as I write, New Horizons will fly past Pluto. In the past few days Pluto has grown from a dot to a world in its own right, in less that a day we will have our best view of the dwarf planet that has beguiled us for so long. You can follow the action athttp://pluto.jhuapl.edu/

Tuesday, July 07, 2015

The Sky This Week - Thursday July 9 to Thursday July 16

The New Moon is Thursday July 16. Venus
is brilliant in
the twilight evening sky with bright Jupiter below it. The pair separate over the week. Saturn is in the
head of the Scorpion and is easily visible in the evening. Mercury is lost to view. The crescent Moon is close to the red star Aldebaran on the 13th.

The New Moon is Thursday July 16.

Early morning sky on Saturday July 11 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 6:30 ACST showing Mercury below the Hyades and the bright star Aldebaran and the Moon nearby. The pair are just above the
horizon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the
equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).Mercury is low in the morning skies at the beginning of this week and is rapidly lost in the twilight.

While Mercury sinks from view the waning Moon comes closer to the Hyades. The crescent Moon is close to the red star Aldebaran on the 13th.

Early evening sky on Saturday July 11 looking north-west as seen from
Adelaide
at 18:30 ACST showing Venus and Jupiter close together. The inset shows the binocular view of the two at this time.

Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

Venus
is easy to see above the western horizon in the twilight. At nautical
twilight, an hour after sunset, it is around four hand-spans
above the horizon, and still visible at astronomical twilight. Venus is a distinct crescent shape in even small telescopes.

Venus and Jupiter start the week close. Venus, Jupiter and the bright star Regulus make a shallow triangle in the sky. As the week goes on the planets move away from each other, with Jupiter
sinking towards the horizon, and Venus closing in on Regulus. The three will be an excellent sight for quite
some time.

Jupiter
is easily seen in the early evening sky near Venus in the
north-western sky. It is also near the bright
star Regulus in
the sickle of Leo (this forms the head of the constellation of the
Lion). Jupiter and Venus are close
at the start of the week, and move further apart as the week goes on.
(see Venus description above).

Jupiter is
visible in the early evening, setting just before 8:30 pm. It is high
enough for telescopic observation once twilight is over, and there is a narrow window of about 2 hours before it is too close to the horizon for telescopic viewing.
Jupiter's Moons will be putting on a good
display in both binoculars and small telescopes.

Evening sky on Saturday July 11 looking north as seen from
Adelaide
at 22:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible high above the northern horizon near the
head of the Scorpion. The
inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

Saturn
is now easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far
from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive
constellation of the Scorpion curled above the horizon, with bright
Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.

While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best
for
telescope observation from around 20:00 into the early morning hours. At
22:00 it is at it's highest above the northern horizon. This is also a
good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the
clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with Jupiter, Venus and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

The ISS passed quite close the pair of Jupiter and Venus tonight as seen from Adelaide, the cloud got in the way a bit, but it was still brilliant to see the ISS zip past the pair while planes flew by. (Hat tip to Paul Curnow for the heads up).

Jupiter, Venus and the ISS at 18:48-18:49 ACST, stack of 8 x 5 second
exposures at 400 ASA (two planes also caught). Images stacked in ImageJ, the images ren't registered on the stars as in the Deep Sky Stacker image, but the two frames DSS dropped are included.

There are a number of bright passes of the ISS this week, but only on 7th and the 9th are they reasonably close to Venus and Jupiter (as seen from Adelaide and Melbourne).

Thursday, July 02, 2015

What was the Conjunction like from Jupiter (and Callisto and Ceres)?

Venus and Earth seen from the cloud tops of Jupiter on July 1 simulated in Stellarium (click to embiggen).

Telescopic view of Venus and Earth seen from the cloud tops of Jupiter on July 1.

Jupiter about to eclipse Venus and Earth as seen from Callisto on July 1 simulated in Stellarium (click to embiggen).

Jupiter about to eclipse Venus and Earth as seen from Callisto on July 1.

A little while ago someone on Facebook (soory, I forgot who it was), said people on Jupiter and Venus would be wondering why we were making a fuss.

Well, Venus maybe, but from the cloud tops of Jupiter Venus and the Earth are even more spectacularly close. In a telescope (should you be in a convenient balloon, or be an inquisitive balloon organism) , the crescent Earth and the "last quarter" Venus look superb, with Earth's Moon nearby.

The most spectacular view is from Callisto though. You get to see Jupiter eclipse Venus, Earth and the Moon, and before that, you get to see the various Galilean moons dance towards and away from Venus and Earth.

The view from Ceres is not quite as spectacular, but still very nice. Venus and Earth are close, but not spectacularly so, and Jupiter and Regulus form a line above them.

I'm sure there is some space rock between Earth and Ceres that is in the right spot to have a spectacular triple conjunction. I leave that as an exercise for the reader.

A Brilliant View of Post-conjunction of Venus and Jupiter (2 July 2015)

Venus and Jupiter as seen at around 18:00 ACST from
Largs Bay, Adelaide on 2 July. 2 second exposure at ASA400 with my Canon IXUS. Click to embiggen.

Venus and Jupiter as seen at around 18:00 ACST from
Largs Bay, Adelaide on 2 July. 4 second exposure at ASA400 3x zoom with my Canon IXUS. Click to embiggen.

Tonight's view of the conjunction (well strictly post conjunction) was brilliant, with amazingly clear skies. I was able to get some nice shots off in between organising dinner for the family (take-away chicken and chips, I am nothing f not a gourmand). The sky was gorgeous, the pair of Venus and Jupiter brilliant and close (Jupiter is the dimmer one closer to the horizon).

My image of Jupiter and Venus taken through the 114 mm Newtonian with 32 mm eyepiece and my Canon IXUS using infinity to infinity focusing (400 ASA, 1 second exposure).

Everything is over exposed as I can't go below 1 second exposure, and being an idiot I did not dial down the ASA rating (hits self on forehead).

In the eyepeice the crescent shape of Venus and the bands of Jupiter were clear. The pair also fitted into the 25 mm eyepiece FOV, but given the drift rate, I did not image them at the higher magnification. The 8" has a time drive, but with the cold and having to run in and out organising dinner the hassle of dragging it out and setting it up just didn't appeal.

Venus and Jupiter as seen at around 19:00 ACST from
Largs Bay, Adelaide on 2 July. 4 second exposure at ASA400 with my Canon IXUS. Click to embiggen.

Venus and Jupiter as seen at around 19:00 ACST from
Largs Bay, Adelaide on 2 July. 4 second exposure at ASA400 3x zoom with my Canon IXUS. Click to embiggen.

But still, I saw it, and it was terrific! The show is still not over. Over the next few nights the pair will draw apart, and on the 18th and 19th they are joined by the thin crescent Moon.

Wednesday, July 01, 2015

My View of the Cloudy Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter (1 July 2015)

Venus and Jupiter as seen at around 18:30 ACST from
Largs Bay, Adelaide on 1 July. 6 second exposure at ASA400 with my Canon IXUS. Click to embiggen.

Venus and Jupiter as seen at around 18:30 ACST from
Largs Bay, Adelaide on 1 July. 10 second exposure at ASA400 3x zoom with my Canon IXUS. Click to embiggen.

Most of the day was sunny with mostly blue skies and light hazy cloud, teasing me with the promise that I might just see tonight's conjunction. Right until sunset, when the cloud thickened.

There was a brief thinning of the cloud around 6:30 pm which allowed me to get these shots. You can just see Regulus if you embiggen them, with the unaided eye I could see Venus, and briefly just see Jupiter in the glow. In binoculars I could make both out before the cloud closed in.

The Sky This Week - Thursday July 2 to Thursday July 9

The Last Quarter Moon is Thursday July 9. Venus
is prominent in
the twilight evening sky with bright Jupiter very close by. The pair separate over the week. Saturn is in the
head of the Scorpion and is easily visible in the evening. Mercury is below the bright star Aldebaran in the morning.

The Last Quarter Moon is Thursday July 9. The Moon is at perigee (when it is closest to the earth) on the 6th, and Earth is at aphelion, when it is furthest from the Sun, on the 7th.

Early morning sky on Saturday July 4 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 6:30 ACST showing Mercury below the Hyades and the bright star Aldebaran. The pair are just above the
horizon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the
equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).Mercury is high in the morning skies at the begining of this week and sinks back towards the horizon.

Early evening sky on Thursday July 1 looking north-west as seen from
Adelaide
at 18:30 ACST showing Venus and Jupiter close together. The inset shows the binocular view of the two at this time.

Similar views will
be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

Venus
is easy to see above the western horizon in the twilight. At nautical
twilight, an hour after sunset, it is around two hand-spans
above the horizon, and still visible at astronomical twilight. Venus is a distinct crescent shape in even small telescopes.

Venus and Jupiter start the week very close, around a Moon diameter apart, as the week goes on they move away from each other, with Jupiter sinking towards the horizon, but will be an excellent sight for quite some time.

Jupiter
is easily seen in the early evening sky near Venus in the north-western sky. It is between the bright
star Regulus in
the sickle of Leo (this forms the head of the constellation of the
Lion) and Pollux in Cancer. It is also not far from the rather nice
Beehive cluster in
Cancer, and looks very good in binoculars. Jupiter and Venus are close at the start of the week, and move further apart as the week goes on. (see Venus description above).

Jupiter is
visible in the early evening, setting just after 8:30 pm, and is high
enough for telescopic observation once twilight is over.
Jupiter's Moons will be putting on a good
display in both binoculars and small telescopes.

Evening sky on Saturday July 4 looking north as seen from
Adelaide
at 22:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible high above the northern horizon near the
head of the Scorpion. The
inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

Saturn
is now easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far
from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive
constellation of the Scorpion curled above the horizon, with bright
Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.

While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best
for
telescope observation from around 20:00 into the early morning hours. At
22:00 it is at it's highest above the northern horizon. This is also a
good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the
clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially
with Jupiter, Venus and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.